30. But Phinehas stood up and intervened, so the plague was stopped.
31. It was credited to him as righteousness, from generation to generation forever.
32. By the waters of Meribah they angered Him, and trouble came on Moses because of them.
33. For they embittered his spirit and he spoke rashly with his lips.
34. They did not destroy the peoples, as Adonai had commanded them.
35. Instead they mingled with the nations and learned their practices.
36. They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them.
37. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38. They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and their daughters, sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. So the land was desecrated with blood.